Yorb Music in the Twentieth Century

Drawing on extensive field research conducted over the course of two decades, Bode Omojola examines traditional and contemporary Yorb genres of music. From the primeval age of Ay n gal (the Yorb pioneer-drummer-turned-deity-of-drumming) to the modern era, Yorb musical traditions have been shaped by individual performers: drummers, dancers, singers, and chanters, wself-mediated visions of their social and cultural environment. Yorb Music in the Twentieth Century explores the role of the performer and the performing group in creating these traditions, contributing to the ongoing reorientation of scholarship on African music toward individual creativity within a larger social network. Drawing on extensive field research conducted over the course of two decades, Bode Omojola examines traditional Yorb genres such as b t and dndn drumming as well as more contemporary genres such as Yorb popular music. The book also addresses a spectrum of social issues, ranging from gender inequality to the impactianity and Islam on Yorb musical practice. Throughout, Omojola emphasizes the interrelatedness of the different components of the Yorb musical landscape, as well as the role of specific individuals and groups of musicians, whohave continued to draw from indigenous Yorb musical resources to create new musical forms in the process of engaging the social dynamics of a rapidly changing environment. Awarded honorable mention in the 2014 Kwabena Nketia Book Competition of the African Music Section of the Society for Ethnomusicology. Bode Omojola is a Five College Associate Professor of Music at Mt. Holyoke College.